[restrict paid=true level=1] Well Obraniak was on the bench but given his poor form he shouldn’t be a starter anyway…

From midfield down Bordeaux look like a club who could successfully compete in Europa League. But when we get to the upper half it’s a total mess. Top-scorer Diabate is out injured. 2nd top-scorer Jussie is also injured. Newly transferred in forward Hoarau also got injured and will miss. 3rd and 4th top-scorers (Obraniak and Saivet) are in the poorest form ever and actually do more harm than good.

Besides wingers Maurice-Belay or Faubert I really don’t see anyone capable of scoring for Bordeaux at the moment. In thee conditions Bordeaux can’t do anything else except defending. To be honest they are pretty good at defending, only that sometimes they remain in numerical inferiority (central midfielders advance often and participate in the offensive phase), and those moments can prove to be decisive (like it happened last round against Bastia, lost 1-0)

Opponents St Etienne were a bit lucky last round as the referee invented a red card for their opponents Lille, with about 1 hour still to be played (St Etienne were already leading 2-0 and it finished that way). But that doesn’t take away any of St Etienne’s credit, especially when it comes to defending.

Defender Zouma finally returned after a long period of suspension and even played for a couple of minutes last round. Fullback Clerc will also make his comeback after missing a couple of rounds through injury. Defensively everything looks wonderful for St Etienne.

Bordeaux may dominate but given their offensive problems, it will be a miracle if they will be able to find the net… Meanwhile Bordeaux’s central midfielders Poko and Sertic will continue to advance and try their luck with attempts from just outside the penalty box, leaving defenders alone in-front of potential counters. St Etienne have fast and talented players upfront (Hamouma, Tabanou, Corgnet…) who can certainly take advantage of any open space, no matter how tiny it may be.

Bookies have made Bordeaux small favorites so the value is definitely on St Etienne. 1.80 for St Etienne +0.25 is the way to go. Medium confidence.[/restrict]